Wishes

Wishes shouldn't only be for birthdays, but I think that sometimes we get too caught up in life to remember that. So, I guess it's nice that when birthdays do roll around, we take the time to stop for a second (hopefully, more) to remember.

Unlike last year when I atypically gathered a group people together to help me celebrate my birthday, this year I choose to celebrate more intimately. Don't get me wrong, birthday parties can be fun, but I find they can be a bit overwhelming, too. Not necessarily in a bad way, but overwhelming nonetheless, for someone shy like me.

(My friends never believe me when I say how shy I am...and I guess I don't really blame them. After all, if we consider each other friends, I probably am not as shy around them as I would "normally" be!)

In any case, I had a long, fun birthday week that included travels to New Jersey and New York. (More on those later when I have the pictures to go along with the story.) It started with a birthday card from my mom (which was early, of course) that read:

A Birthday Blessing

Life is change...
this much we know.
We plant a seed,
we watch it grow.
A caterpillar,
small and shy,
Unfurls into
a butterfly.
An acorn falls
so it can be
Transformed into
a sturdy tree.
And so we know
when change arrives
Across the landscape
of our lives,
We still can trust
that it will mean
a special blessing
not yet seen.
As you grow into all
that God has planned
for you this year,
may each day give way
to blessing after blessing.

The best thing about this card was that I read it and thought about its message of change and love. It reminded me how much my mom loves me, and how she would probably be just fine with me being trans, if only I would give her the chance to accept me by telling her. I don't know exactly what stops me from coming out...probably all the other things I'm afraid of that don't really have to do with my parents. Which is why the card I got from a long-time friend was just what I needed, too.



Inside the card reads, "Hope the fun lasts 'til pigs fly!" And she writes, "my birthday wish for you is for all the 'impossibles' out there to be 'possibles.' Have all the cake and happiness you want." Better yet, I just came out to her as trans this past June when I saw her, and she addressed the envelope and the card with exactly the right name. :)

And, I did have both a bunch of cake, and happiness this year. Thanks y'all.


Coffee oreo ice cream cake, even--YUM!